May
10
Impersonal Intimacy?
Filed Under Powerful Women, Resource | By Rose Luna | Leave a Comment
U.S. contemporary society has undergone many changes in recent years due to technology. The use of technology has streamlined workloads, condensed geographical locations with the use of webcams and has made efficient our professional and personal lives, including the search for “the one.” According to the Dating Journal.com, U.S. Census numbers suggest 44% of American adults are single, 40% have tried online dating AND more than 120,000 marriages a year occur as a result of online dating in the U.S.
With less than 5% of single adults in America searching for love organically, risks and opportunities exist for both businesses and the community at large. Not only has online dating altered the landscape of meeting potential life partners, it also provides lucrative business opportunities. The U.S. online dating market is expected to reach $932 billion this year alone. Skeptics maintain electronic and/or internet communications lack intimacy and may provide a false sense of hope and security. Does this online dating phenomenon intersect our work with survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence?
Apr
26
Roundtable on Sexual Violence report
Filed Under Resource | By | Leave a Comment
On Oct. 27 of last year, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, the White House Council on Women and Girls, and Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women hosted a Roundtable on Sexual Violence. Here’s a brief excerpt from the report:
Roundtable participants identified numerous barriers to advancing the issue of sexual violence.
Key barriers they described included:
- The persistence of “rape myths†and misconceptions about sexual violence, which run counter to the majority of victims’ experiences, and make it all the more challenging for survivors to disclose their victimization to anyone, from law enforcement and healthcare professionals to family and friends;
- Relentless focus on victim behavior and characteristics—and lack of attention to offenders—which perpetuate victim-blaming attitudes and help offenders evade sanctions;
- Lack of community engagement, which inhibits public discourse on the issue;
- Failure to account for the historical and current contexts of sexual violence as a tool of subjugation and colonization, in particular as this relates to communities of color;
- The discomfort of professionals and the general public with issues of child sexual abuse and incest, which make it even more difficult for survivors to disclose, attain justice, and seek support;
- Victims’ reluctance to report their assaults, given that when victims do disclose, they often face skepticism, blame, and further humiliation from professionals, families, and friends, amounting to what many survivors consider a “second victimizationâ€;
- Lack of effective training and education on sexual violence, both for first responders and for communities at large; and
- A dearth of relevant research on sexual violence, and the need for better research and data collection to inform the work of practitioners and policymakers.
You can read the full report here.